Almost non-existent a few decades ago, teaching entrepreneurship in universities is growing exponentially. While in the United States in 1970 there were only 16 offering such a course, now, 47 years later, there are close to 1,600. It can then be asked whether engineers are made for entrepreneurship. How is awareness of this option to be raised and supported in the various stages that await it?
Is being an engineer the ideal profile for an entrepreneur?
An engineer certainly has qualities and skills that make an interesting candidate for entrepreneurship. He also generally has structured and Cartesian thought processes that lets him face the unknown, resolve problems, find solutions to real needs, develop large projects involving innovation, creativity and technology. As for the idea, it may have germinated for some time in the student’s head, suddenly appearing as a result of a course with a professor who talks about his R & D or it could emerge on the job. Aware that very few engineers are business owners (6% in Quebec), universities are offering more and more courses, seminars and workshops on entrepreneurship, to sensitize their students about this other way of using their skills.
Creativity, the journey of the fighter
You find a brilliant, innovative, useful idea… but is it enough to get started? There are many steps to be validated before take the leap in full serenity and security. Here are the main ones: validate the idea, analyze the market potential, study the direct and indirect competition, identify the competitive advantages of your product, establish a business plan, seek financing, build a relational network or even form a competent team, undertake the steps related to intellectual property (patent, brand), find a name and logo for the company, choose the best legal form, create a website, take out insurance. In other words, it’s more than just wanting to be an entrepreneur!
Barriers and support
Quite often engineers will focus on development and design at the expense of scaling and marketing. Almost 90% of new technology companies are struggling to sell the product: it does not meet demand, its market is too small. In addition, engineers often lack the time, funds and management skills. For this reason, some schools and universities have developed supporting structures for both students and engineers, such as the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Engineering Design (University of Ottawa), the Centres d’entrepreneuriat universitaire (Quebec) or entrepreneurship@UBC, British Columbia. For the pre-start-up and start-up phases of their project, engineers can also approach incubators to benefit from the advice of professionals and experts as well as accessing their address book.
If you are interested in entrepreneurship, but not yet ready to make the big leap into the unknown, why not consider – in the short term – intrapreneurship. Offering your employer to develop a new product in-house would let you validate your skills to become a future entrepreneur …